This is a really exciting step for me. I’ve been having a ball over the past four months, finding my way with this whole blogging thing. I’m not there yet by any means, but having my own site feels like I’m entering a new phase.

Thanks for all your encouragement so far.

See you on the other side? And do me a favour? Rather than subscribing via wordpress, please consider subscribing via email. I’m aiming for one post a week so I promise I won’t bother your inbox too much.

What I didn’t realise, is that Sophie has this fabulous background as a magazine editor and now showcases local producers in her own blog Local is Lovely. She is also a beautiful cook and spent the day – ever so quietly in the background – preparing lots of deliciousness for us all to enjoy.

So it was a good recipe for a great day.

Good host, good food, good company, in a pretty location surrounded
by snow covered hills.

But back to our weaving ….

What I love about Harriet’s work is its organic nature.

It’s relaxed and loose.

And in a world full of mass produced plastic and rubbish, the idea of learning how to take pieces of nature and craft them into something functional is very appealing.

And sure enough, as promised, within a few short hours we had all produced our own unique baskets from bits of flotsam on the floor.

I had this vague idea that I might create a woven fairy castle to hide somewhere
in the garden …

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that our daughter Maddy had been in India on a university textiles tour. Her experience was so special I’ve asked her permission to share some of her photos. So if you’d like to join me …. step this way …

UTS (the University of Technology in Sydney) took 10 second year fashion students
to Delhi for three weeks to see first hand the incredible skills of local artisans.
They experimented with block printing …

and dyeing techniques …

but it was the embroidery that really blew Maddy away.

And it’s easy to see why.

So beautiful.

So exquisite.

Detailed beyond belief.

Every stitch made my hand.

Maybe Madz has a bit of story teller inside her because this was the
embroidery that she chose to focus on.

It’s called Sujani and every work has its own narrative.

It describes all the simple things that make up a day to day life.

A here and now of the very highest order I’d say.

There was time out to do some shopping … how could you take 10 girls away and not!

And some exploring.

An opportunity to see the wonders of India…

And experience first hand its pressing environmental issues.

It’s a bittersweet moment to watch your little girl step out on her own.

It’s what you want.

But you can’t help but want to protect her too.

For us it’s always been a high priority to try and get the kids out into the wider world,
to encourage them to travel at every opportunity.

To realise that they are part of something much bigger…

This time round, it was lovely sitting on the sideline watching her start her own journey.

Who knows where it will take her but one thing was certain.

She was in the best of hands.

Thankyou so much for everything you shared with our girls.

_______________________________________________________________

Happy Hands Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation reviving Indian arts, crafts and culture. The People’s Project is an art studio-cum-residency where rural artists challenge and explore various theories of creativity.

Steve and I have been together for quite a while now and throughout the years, apart from our shared and tragic passion for Survivor, there is another big element in our lives which gives us enormous pleasure.

Second hand junk shops and auctions.

Oh sorry Steve. Did you think I was going to say something else?

It doesn’t matter where we are in the world, if we spy a dusty, overcrowded
treasure house of junk, it’s just a given that we’ll dive in and take a look.

Happily losing ourselves in the moment, searching for our own specific treasures.

Until I hear “Marg Marg Marg!” and the moment’s broken and I’m dragged off
to look at some piece of crap really interesting stuff that Steve has found.

One day I sent him on a mission to buy a cheap second hand microwave from an auction.

He came home with an antique divers helmet.

Only it turned out it wasn’t antique. It was Copper Art. ahhh that still makes me laugh.

More often than not we come out empty handed.

It’s more about the pleasure of looking …

and imagining ….

and admiring old things that were made by hand and made to last.

Old things that have had a good life … but have still got plenty of life left in them.

A bit like ourselves really.

Apparently Aaron at Bathurst Mart has been asked to sell this statue of Joseph many times over the years but he told me this lovely story this morning of why he’s hung on to it. He was a little boy in Malta when the Germans were bombing it and his father placed a statue of Joseph on the roof of their home and prayed to it every day to keep them safe.

He has a picture of their house standing tall while everything around it was flattened.

His mum said it was luck.

His dad said it was Joseph.

So just to play it safe, Aaron has his own Joseph looking down from high above his office.

It’s a bit hard to tell whether it’s working 😉

Anyway this was a rambling way to say that one of the nice ways to spend a wintery Saturday morning in Bathurst is to go poking around the many antique and second hand shops we have in town. If you spot a couple of nice old things, make sure you say hello.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever come home with from a second hand store?
One of my favourites is a vintage, French enamelled enema pitcher which I now use to keep all my kitchen implements in 🙂

I’m still getting my head around the whole social media thing and my jury is still out on it, but for those of you who are into Pinterest, I thought I’d let you know that I’ve set up a site that showcases a lot of the photos that have appeared so far on the blog.

On the 4th Saturday of every month, Bathurst hosts a farmers market in the
grounds of our historic showground.

I take my hat off to the producers who turn up each month, especially in the depths of winter because the showground is so so so so cold!

The pavilions were built in the late 1800s

and while the architecture is superb

I don’t think they had any notion about passive solar design

back in 1896.

It is the perfect setting for the markets though

How can anyone resist these

or these?

It’s lovely to turn up and see what’s on offer each month.

I so admire the fact that people take such pride in what they do

and that they are rewarded for their efforts.

I love running into my beautiful colourful friends

and talking to people who care about the world we live in and the food we eat

It’s also the perfect excuse to put on your pinkest shoes and wear that pussy cat bag you’ve been itching to wear…

and to buy the best damned olive oil this side of Liguria.

Everything is so fresh

and enticing

and made with love.

Until today I’d never really looked closely at the old paintings that decorate the interior walls in the showground pavilions. Does anyone know anything of their history?

I particularly like the one of the apple pickers behind our new friend Con up top.

I think it might actually snow this weekend. I have nothing to back that up except we’ve just braved the sideline of the rugby field to watch Darcy play and scuttled home to get warm. It’s a snuggle-down-in-front-of-the-heater kind of weekend me thinks. Stay cosy x